MF Global's administrator KPMG has told the failed futures broker's clients they will get back much-needed funds before it had finally settled all positions.

Final distributions to clients will not be made until all client risk positions have been liquidated or transferred and all claims against have been validated. However, we are likely to make interim distributions along the way, KPMG said on Friday.

The pledge of early repayment offered some comfort to MF Global clients who have become increasingly frustrated with KPMG since MF Global collapsed on October31.

Commodities traders in Europe and the United States have complained that different exchanges and clearing houses charged with unraveling client positions have taken different approaches, with some closing positions while others have sought to transfer open positions to other brokers.

Still unclear is the whereabouts of about $600 million of customer funds unaccounted for since MF Global's Chapter 11 filing, and whether MF Global might have improperly mixed customer funds with its own.

These matters are among those being investigated by federal prosecutors, the Securities and Exchange Commission and Commodity Futures Trading Commission. All are examining why MF Global collapsed in the seventh-largest U.S. bankruptcy.

(Reporting by Douwe Miedema; Editing by Dan Lalor)